I was shocked. People I spoke to were shocked. And now that we’re telling everyone, they’re telling us they’re shocked too.
What are they shocked about? That Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world. And we’re not going to be quiet about it.
Maybe you saw our ad in the Globe and Mail:
This is just the beginning – we’re going out loudly to tell all Canadians that MS is Canada’s disease, and it’s time that everyone joins the fight. As a nation, we need to get off the fence and take a stand.
I’m asking you to get involved too. Because there are more shocking facts about MS:
- 3:1 ratio of MS in women compared to men
- Up to 80% of Canadians with MS are unemployed
- Canadians as young as 2 years old are developing MS
Flee or Fight is our new campaign that reveals just how prevalent multiple sclerosis is in Canada and that together, we need to work to find a cure. You’re going to see it on your television screens, in print, and on billboards across this country in the weeks to come. Check us out online too at endMS.ca to learn more about Flee or Fight and to get a better understanding of why MS is so widespread in Canada.
Over the next few weeks, if you chose to Fight, you will be presented with powerful stories of MS and engaging in the lives of those who live with MS every day.
You will also learn about a Canadian success story: the story of MS research. If any country will find a cure for MS, it will be Canada.
And view our campaign and share on YouTube – join me in raising awareness of multiple sclerosis – Canada’s disease.
Will you flee? Or will you fight?
1 month ago I was told by my doctor that I have primary progressive MS . I am still in a state of shock as is my family I’m still waiting to go on some medication to help improve my walking in the meantime I am trying to educate myself I had a great job with great pay the future was bright for my family now it seems like we took a giant leap backwards but I’m a fighter things will get better
I will fight for me and everybody out there who has MS.
Don’t panic!i was diagnosed with Primary Progressive in 1991. I have problems with walking but I am still on my feet mist times. I use cane, walker or wheelchair when I have to, but they are only tools to make it easier. Don’t worry if you have to use help. Tools that are much the same as wearing glasses, we use what helps. I am on the drug that helps walking. I can tell the difference, my legs stronger. Good luck! Keep your chin up and persevere.
I was diagnosed 10/12/14. They don’t know yet if its PPMS,RRMS or SPMS. For me it is what it is…
We all need to fight on, fight on, fight on!!
I am 26 years old. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis on February 4th 2014.
I currently take Amantadine, Tysabri, Fampyra, Detrol, Baclofen, Amantadine and Medical Marijuana. I also sometimes need a cane.
I am 26. I have Multiple Sclerosis
I will never stop fighting because I may have MS, but it will never have me. I was diagnosed with MS at 21 years old, and have learned to adapt new norms over these 2 years of fighting. If I can do it, so can you! We are in this together!
I was diagnosed in august 2014 … Some days are hard … But I won’t give up … We all have to fight together
My mother was diagnosed with MS when she was 19, my cousin when she was 35, and I was diagnosed when I was 42. We live in Alberta, my wish is that a cure will be found so that my 20 year old son will never have to worry about this disease.
I was born in Alberta 1953 Live in Mississauga
I wonder why I got MS, my father worked at the coal mine near Drumheller
we have no family history of MS, feel lucky my kids didn’t get it, but concerned about my grandkids I have MS for 20 years, wish they would find a cure by now
I was diagnosed with MS in 2010.. I was 35 at that time!! Its very hard at first like every one here. I Know that!!! I used to have these weird crying spells…, I used to work at a Marriott hotel as a Manager before MS hit me..I know I lost my Job because of that….But five years later now I feel I am a New Man!! I have taken up a job…I hope I can keep it though as the previous jobs I have done were all in Vain…
I have been fighting this disease for 30 years. The drug Tysabri, changed my life for the better, but I still know everyday that I have MS. We need to find a cure for this disease that stops people very early in their life. Hope for MS is my dream.
I got my MS diagnosis for my 40th birthday, I was an advid mountain biker, I had just bought a house (with lots of stairs), had a really good job (with an hours drive each way), and was about to get married (my fiance had never been sick a day in his life), it seemed as though my whole life was going sideways. Fast forward 9 years, I dont mountain bike anymore because of vision loss, I still live in the house and the stairs are the only thing that stops my butt from sliding down my legs!, I quite the job with the long commute, went back to school, got a better job, married the love of my life. I have my struggles but have learned to cope. I never shied away from the challenges of my MS, I have just faced them headon and plowed through. There is hope and support. MS is not the “wheelchair sentence” we once though it was. Carry on MS soldiers, hang in there and fight!!!
I used to be a CGA in Ontario, then i was diagnosed with MS in ’86. I continued to work for 7 years, then had to retire on disability pension (thank God I had disability insurance, and can survive in BC as a widow on that & CPP disability). Physically I am not disabled, love to walk, play badminton, practice Taoist Tai Chi, and live alone.
It was confirmed last Wed. Mar. 25th, on my 48th birthday that I have PPMS, by my neurologist. When my doctor first told me he suspected I had MS, I was in shock. However, after contacting the MS Society and doing research on my own. I have come to realize that I have been living with this disease for a long time. The only difference is now I know! I can now understand why I have had certain inexplainable symptoms like fatigue, tripping, numbness and more. The difference is that now Though my disease is progressive I am nolonger ignorant nor helpless. I can seek the knowledge and support not only to help me cope, but to help me thrive in spite of it! After all, it could be worse! It could have been cancer or aids or any other painfully fatal disease, but it’s not. I will strive to enjoy the good things in life for as long as I can.
Read this to put things into perspective.
http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/could-canada-cause-multiple-sclerosis/
Ionizing radiation: MS is concentrated in boreal regions (Van Allen Belt), radioactive regions (Canadian Shield, Rogers Pass, etc.). There is no statistical link with sunshine (Vitamin D hypothesis) except in broad terms wherein regional differences are overlooked. Would someone please pursue this ?
[…] few months ago, we asked you a question: will you flee or fight? And because Canadians don’t back down from a challenge, you’re […]
I recently saw a commercial associated with your new campaign at a local cinema. I’ve heard a lot of criticism about this campaign – but as someone living with MS – I have to greatly commend the MS Society for this effort. Not a lot of Canadians even know about the disease, let alone how much it really is a Canadian disease (based on global prevalence), so raising awareness and compassion is very important. The campaign may use emphatic language, but it really lends a strong voice to the people living with the condition who feel unable to express the magnitude of what they are dealing with. I just wanted to express my sincere thanks for such an amazing campaign ( “Will you Flee or Flight”). Please consider keeping this campaign for a long time to come – its more effective than many other public health campaigns out there, and one that I think has already raised health literacy about this issue greatly.
[…] campaign’s directive, “What Will You Do: Flee or Fight?” plays on Canadians’ willingness to take on a challenge, says Owen Charters, the MS Society’s […]
The way MS is dealt with in Canada is pathetic There is no help here.
I read about “your MS health care team” on all kinds of websites.
What “health care team??? In Canada such an animal doesn’t exist.
I used to go to the MS Society in Victoria where there was lots of help but that got shut down thanks to that greedy pig of a CEO who gets paid more than our prime minister. I also used to go to the understaffed MS clinic here where the help one gets is little more than lip service from the wonderful “health care team”. And now when I try to go back to get what little help may be available, they’ve lost my records and say I have never attended. My GP is useless and has absolutely no understanding of anything to do with MS.
So what alternative do we have in Canada? Well the governments answer to the lack of almost everything medical for those of us with MS is MAIDS. We can elect to die and help alleviate some of the stress on the broken medical system. Nice, huh? Offer us a way out with MAIDS instead of figuring out how to fix our nonexistent medical system.